Graphically representing content relationships on a surface of graphical object

ABSTRACT

A collection of data stored in a computer-readable storage medium is provided, and a plurality of portions of the collection are associated with corresponding identifiers that are associated with positions of an object to be rendered. User selections of positions on the surface of the object are received. The portions associated with the user selected position are determined, and the portions are displayed at their respective position on the surface of the object. The selected portions can be displayed as being connected by graphical elements.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e)to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/102,663, filed on Oct. 3, 2008,the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to a method of organizinginformation, and more particularly to a method of organizing informationto capture and graphically portray relationships among multiple piecesof information of various types.

Efforts in the field of information architecture have been, and continueto be, directed to finding methods to organize and access large amountsof information in a cohesive manner. Large groupings or collections ofinformation often have interrelated pieces of information, which are noteasily discoverable due to the size or complexity of the groupings orcollections. In addition to the contents of the information itself, therelationships between portions of the information can also providevaluable insight into the groupings or collections.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A collection of content, such as a collection of text documents isassociated with a graphical object, such as polyhedron having aplurality of surfaces. The text collection is divided into a number ofportions. A portion can be a book, a chapter, a sub-chapter, a section,a sentence, or a term. Each portion is associated with a position on oneof the surfaces of the graphical object; in one embodiment each portionis associated with a position identifier that maps the portion to aspecific location on one of the surfaces of the object. A given surfacecan thus be associated with multiple portions of text, for example, themultiple sentences within a chapter, and each sentence would have adistinct position on the surface.

The graphical object can be displayed, and can be graphicallymanipulated, such as by rotation, tilt, and zoom operations, to displaythe various surfaces, and the text thereon. A user inputs selections oflocations on the surfaces of the object. For each selected location, thetext portion (e.g., term or sentence) indexed to that location isdetermined. Multiple location selections can be grouped together in agraphical arrangement displayed on the surfaces of the object. Forexample, a user selection of three different locations can be shown asconnected by graphical elements, such as lines extending betweenselected locations to form a triangle, over or through the surfaces ofthe object. The graphical elements connecting the selected points canform a complex, irregular shape depending on the selected locations.

In one embodiment, a grouped selection of locations and their associatedtext portions is called a “facet.” In this fashion, the user can moreeasily see the relationships between the selected portions of text byobserving different facets that the user or others have created. In atypical use, a user may select multiple locations where the term “Truth”appears in the text, and form a “facet” linking these portions, therebyexposing an underlying semantic relationship between the otherwiseunrelated portions of the text.

Multiple facets can be further selected and grouped together to form amore complex collection of related text; in one embodiment, a group offacets is called a “diamond.” The user can select the text portionseither directly by selecting specific locations on the surfaces of theobject, or by searching for keywords or phrases in the text, which thenare displayed at their respective locations. In one embodiment, facetsand diamonds created by one or more users can be shared in a communityof users. Facets and diamonds can be ranked according to frequency ofaccess, popularity, or other measures of significance or importance.

The features and advantages described in this summary and the followingdetailed description are not all-inclusive. Many additional features andadvantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in viewof the drawings, specification, and claims hereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a display screen showing a rendering of athree-dimensional object, in accordance with an aspect of the invention.

FIG. 2 depicts a display screen showing the object of FIG. 1 along withidentifying information, in accordance with an aspect of the invention.

FIG. 3 depicts a display screen showing the object of FIG. 1 togetherwith a verse associated with identifying information of FIG. 2, inaccordance with an aspect of the invention.

FIG. 4 depicts a display screen showing the object of FIG. 1 and theverse of FIG. 3 moved to another area of the display screen.

FIG. 5 depicts a display screen in which the verse of FIGS. 3 and 4 isadded to a facet list and in which other identifying information isdisplayed.

FIG. 6 depicts a version of the display screen of FIG. 5 with anadditional second verse associated with the other identifyinginformation.

FIG. 7 depicts a version of the display screen of FIG. 6 with the secondverse added to the facet list.

FIG. 8A depicts a version of the display screen of FIG. 7 with a thirdverse displayed and added to the facet list.

FIG. 8B depicts a word diamond in the display screen on FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 depicts a display screen showing search results and identifyinginformation for a search term, in accordance with an aspect of theinvention.

FIG. 10 depicts a version of the display screen of FIG. 9 with a firstverse associated with the identifying information displayed in FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 depicts a display screen showing the first verse of FIG. 10added to a facet list and also showing other identifying informationassociated with at least a second verse.

FIG. 12 depicts a version of the display screen of FIG. 11 with secondand third verses displayed and added to the facet list.

FIG. 13 depicts a display screen showing a verse and information about aportion of the verse.

FIG. 14 depicts schematically an embodiment of an information organizingsystem in accordance with an aspect of the invention.

FIG. 15 depicts schematically an embodiment of a computer system inaccordance with an aspect of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In an aspect of the invention, a computer-implemented method oforganizing and presenting a collection of data is provided. Examples ofcollections of data include encyclopedias, books, periodicals, speeches,libraries, films, musical recordings, etc.

The method includes providing the collection of data and associating aplurality of portions of the collection with corresponding positionidentifiers, each of which references a position on a surface of agraphical object. (In this disclosure, the terms “position” and“location” are used interchangeably.) The graphical object can be aregular Platonic object, having surfaces with uniform shape and size(e.g., cube, tetrahedron, octahedron, dodecahedron, icosahedron, or thelike), or irregular polyhedron with surfaces of various shapes and sizes(e.g., diamond, geodesic, or the like).

The collection of data is preferably stored in a computer database,which can be accessed and searched via a programmed server computer.Such a server computer may be preferably connected to other computers ina conventional client/server relationship. Alternatively, the collectioncan be stored on a computer-readable storage medium that can be accessedby a client computer either locally or remotely, and need not be limitedto client/server communication. Such a client computer can execute acomputer program, which can access and process the stored information inaccordance with various aspects and embodiments described herein. Forexample, in an embodiment, a client computer connected to a server via anetwork, such as the Internet, can be accessed by a user via an Internetweb browser displayed on a client computer display device. The user canaccess the collection through a webpage viewable on the client computerdisplay device. In addition, the user can input queries via the webpageand send them to the server via the client computer and the Internet.The server is configured to receive a user request, access thecollection, execute the request, and send a reply containing results ofthe request to the client computer.

The method also includes receiving user selections of a plurality ofportions of the collection. The two portions are discrete parts of thedata of the collection, which has been divided into the plurality ofportions. The collection may be divided into portions based uponexisting content divisions, format, themes, publication information, orthe like. For example, a book could be divided by its chapters andsub-chapters; an encyclopedia by its lettered sections or themes; aperiodical publication by its volumes and issues; a technical manual byits topics, and forth. It should be noted that, in dividing thecollection into portions, the portions can be, but need not necessarilybe, of the same size. The method also includes comparing the identifiersassociated with the first portion and the second portion, andgraphically displaying a result of the comparison.

For example, the Bible is a large text with many discrete sections orbooks. These books may include chapters and verses relating to themes orterms such as “neighbor”, “brother”, and “father”. Such terms or themesmay be used in different contexts in the various portions of the Bible,and the ability to investigate the relationship(s) between such portionscan produce a new theological insight when those portions are takentogether. For instance, connected scripture passages may complement orcontradict each other, or may show threads of thought common to both theOld and New Testaments of the Bible. However, because such phrases orthemes may be spread out throughout the Bible, the connections to thevarious parts of the Bible may be difficult to identify, especially forreaders who have not extensively studied the Bible. The reader istherefore limited in his or her ability to efficiently study the Bible.

In FIG. 1, a web page 102 is shown, in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the invention. The web page 102 includes a text-searchfield 104, which is used to input a text item to be searched in acollection (described below). Also, a graphical representation orrendering of a three-dimensional object 106 is shown. The object 106 maybe a diamond with multiple faces, whose surfaces are associated withportions of the collection. In this example embodiment, the collectionincludes the text of the Bible, which is divided into portions (e.g.,books, chapters, and verses). In one embodiment, the portions of thecollection are indexed in a database as being associated with positionsor other identifiers identifying the position of the portion on thesurface of the diamond. For example, an inverted index may be used,where each term of the collection is mapped to a list of the portions ofthe collection in which the term appears (each portion identified bybook, chapter, and verse), and a secondary index, which maps eachportion to a position on the object. The position identifier can be inthe form of an identifier of a specific surface of the object, and alocation (absolute or relative) on that surface. For example, eachsurface can be assigned a unique numerical ID (e.g., 0 to N, where thereare N surfaces on the object). The offset can be specified in (X,Y)coordinates relative to a given origin (e.g., vertex) of the surface, oras a relative percentage of distance between an origin vertex (e.g.,upper left corner) and an ending vertex (e.g., bottom right corner) ofthe surface, or other equivalent formulations. As will be appreciated bypersons skilled in the art, other database and indexing schemes may beused to associate different sets of data with each other.

The collection can be searched, either by entering a text item to searchfor a term or phrase, or by searching a surface of the object 106 usinga pointer (e.g., cursor (not shown)) for locations on the surface thatare associated with an identifier corresponding to that portion of thecollection. Where a text search is performed, an input text searchstring is matched against the index to identify those portions of thetext that correspond to the input text (the correspondence can be aliteral Boolean string match, or a similarity match, or the like). Thelocations of the corresponding text portions on the surface of thediamond are determined. One or more of the matching portions arepreferably shown graphically on the diamond, with the diamond beingautomatically oriented by rotation and tilt to show as many of thematching portions as possible. Of course, other portions of the object106 in addition to its surfaces, such as its interior, can be used toindex portions of the collection.

For instance, in the case of this example embodiment where thecollection includes the text of the Bible, the positions on the surfacesof the object 106 can be searched for a specific verse associated with aportion of the Bible. Conversely, the portions of the Bible, such asverse or verses, can be associated with identifiers corresponding to aposition on a multi-dimensional object other than a diamond, such as apolyhedron, for example. In one embodiment, each surface or face of thediamond is associated with a single book of the Bible and the locationof the text within the respective book of the Bible linearly correspondsto the location of the text on the respective face of the diamond,reading from a top left corner to the bottom right corner. In anembodiment, with reference to FIG. 2, a face of the diamond 106, forexample, is associated with the book of John and the location of thetext within that book linearly corresponds to the location of the texton that face. As shown in FIG. 2, an exploded view of the faceassociated with the book of John shows the first verse of the firstchapter (John 1:1) begins at the upper left of the surface, and isfollowed by John, chapter 1, verse 2 (John 1:2), and so on, to the rightand down to chapter 21, verse 25 (John 21:25). By virtue of thisarrangement, each face of the diamond completely organizes one book ofthe Bible and the various positions on the surface of that face areindexed to correspond to specific portions of the Bible. Each portion ofthe Bible can be further indexed to facilitate searching by terms,themes, titles, and keywords. For example, Genesis 1:1, may be a portionof the Bible which is associated with the upper left vertex of a face ofthe diamond 106, whereas Genesis 2:1 may be another portion of the Bibleassociated with another position of the same face of the diamond 106.Moreover, in another example, text within each indexed portion can betagged, or otherwise associated with one or more of a term, theme,title, and keyword, such that a user can later search for the portion byinputting one or more of such fields. In the embodiment, the books ofthe Bible are graphically associated with circumferentially adjacentfaces of the diamond so that they follow in a counterclockwise (oralternatively, clockwise) fashion around the diamond in the order theyfollow in the Bible (e.g., Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,Deuteronomy, etc.). The arrangement used here for indexing the Bible,dividing a text collection into a hierarchical arrangement oflevels—such as books, chapters, and verses—can be applied to other textcollections as well, such as encyclopedia, text books, instruction ortechnical manuals, and the like.

The object 106 is graphically displayed on a display device, such as adisplay screen of a client computer, a television monitor, a telephonescreen, a personal digital assistant, and the like. Such a displaydevice may be connected to an input device, such as, for example, akeyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a digital tablet, a digital pen, and thelike, which can be communicatively connected in a known manner to acomputer. Moreover, the display device may be a touchscreen displaydevice that can receive manual input from a user via direct input on thedisplay device. A viewer using the input device can position a pointeror other indicator over a position on the object 106 to revealidentifying information associated with that portion of the collection(i.e., the Bible in this example embodiment), such as, for example, thename of the book, the chapter, and the verse, as shown in FIG. 2. In anembodiment, the object 106 is rendered to appear in a three-dimensionalenvironment using Flash® technology (Adobe Systems, Inc.) Flash®technology simulates a three-dimensional environment by usingmathematical algorithms to animate two-dimensional objects onto athree-dimensional space. Thus, the object 106 may be rendered to appearas a rotating three-dimensional object via Flash® technology.

FIG. 2 shows a text box 202 that displays identifying information infront of the object 106. (In this sample embodiment the terms “object106” and “diamond 106” are used interchangeably.) As discussed, withrespect to the embodiment, the displayed text in the text box 202 is anindexed portion of the collection corresponding to the position of thesurface of the object 106 that is being searched. For example, the textbox 202 appears when the surfaces of the diamond 106 are graphicallysearched, such as when the aforementioned graphical pointer ispositioned at or pointing to a location of the diamond 106. The text box202 includes the identifying information associated with the specificposition on the diamond 106 that is pointed to, which in the exampleembodiment corresponds to a verse of the Bible. Thus, as shown in FIG.2, the location on the diamond 106 indicated by the text box 202 isassociated with a certain verse of the Bible, namely, the book of John,at chapter 16, verse 20. In the example embodiment, each verse of achapter of a book of the Bible is associated with a unique position on asurface 204 of the diamond 106. In one aspect of the example embodiment,each book of the Bible is associated with a single surface 204, suchthat all verses corresponding to that book are likewise associated withpositions on that single surface 204. As shown in FIG. 2, a pointer canbe positioned over a location on the diamond 106, in order to reveal theidentification information in the text box 202 corresponding to thatposition of the diamond 106. The identification information in the textbox 202 can be made to appear in response to the movement of the pointerat or over a certain position of the diamond 106. The diamond 106 canalso be visually rotated or otherwise moved around by use of thepointer, such as, for example, using Flash® technology. Such movement ofthe diamond 106 permits the pointer to thereby traverse or search allsurfaces of the diamond 106, including surfaces that otherwise would beobstructed by a particular viewing perspective.

When a user wishes to view a particular passage of the Bible, the usercan move the pointer over the diamond 106 to a desired verse, asindicated by the identifier information in the text box 202, and clickor otherwise select that portion of the diamond 106 associated with thatverse, to display the text of the verse 302, as shown in FIG. 3.

As shown in FIG. 3, in addition to the displayed text of the verse 302,scroll controls 304 are displayed adjacent to the displayed verse 302,and can be used to search for and display the text of verses precedingor following the originally selected verse 302 that are within the samechapter of the book of the Bible (e.g., scrolling from verse 16:20 toverse 16:19 or 16:21, etc.). Moreover, the scroll controls 304 alsopermit scrolling ahead and back by chapters in the same book of theBible (e.g., scrolling from chapter 16 to chapter 15 or chapter 17).

The displayed text of the verse 302 can graphically appear over oradjacent to the diamond 106. The text of the verse 302 can be translatedand/or rotated within the web page using the input device (e.g., thecomputer mouse), as shown in FIG. 4 with respect to the position of theverse 302 in FIG. 3. In addition to being displayed for viewing, thetext of the verse 302 can be added to a list 402 for later retrieval andviewing. In FIG. 4, while the text of the verse 302 is displayed, thattext can be caused to be stored by a user. For example, a button marked“Add Scripture” 404 is selected to add the text of the verse 302 to thelist 402 located in a field below the diamond 106, as shown in FIG. 5.The addition of the text of verses to the facet list 402 builds a groupor set of verses referred to herein as a “facet” 804. As shown in FIG.5, a facet can include up to 5 verses in the present sample embodiment,although in other embodiments the facet can include another number ofverses. In the case of the list 402 shown in FIG. 4, additional facetscan be created and also contain up to 5 verses in the present sampleembodiment.

As described above with respect to FIGS. 1-5, in FIG. 6 the text of asecond verse 602 (e.g., Luke 12:40) is searched for and displayed. Thetext of the second verse 602 may be added to the list 402 (see FIG. 7)in the same manner as that of the text of the first verse 302.

In FIG. 8A, the text of a third verse 802 (e.g., John 1:11) is showndisplayed and added to the facet list 402 in like manner as with thefirst verse 302 and the second verse 602. FIG. 8A also shows a graphicaldepiction of a facet 804, as a relationship between the three verses302, 602, and 802 listed on the facet list 402 and shown on the diamond106. A facet 804 is represented by graphical elements, such as lines,connecting the locations on the diamond 106 associated with the threelisted verses 302, 602, and 802. The facet 804 is formed when three ormore verses are listed on a list 402, such that the lines connecting thelocations on the diamond 106 form the facet 804.

The facet 804 is represented by a graphical indicator 805 positionedbelow the list 402. The graphical indicator 805 is preferably a polygonhaving a number of sides corresponding to the number of versesassociated with the facet 804. The facet 804 is selected by selecting(e.g., pointing to) the graphical indicator 805. A dot positioned in thepolygonal indicator 805 indicates that the facet 804 associated with therespective indicator 805 is selected. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8A,the facet 804 is a facet associated with three verses and is representedby a triangle with a dot inside the triangle indicating that the facet804 is selected. When the facet 804 is selected the verses associatedwith the facet 804 are displayed in the list 402 and the graphicaldepiction of the facet 804 is shown on the diamond 106.

Another facet 808 can be added by selecting a button marked “Add facet”806 (FIGS. 8A and 8B). In one embodiment, upon selecting the “Add facet”button 806 a triangular indicator 805 can initially be displayed belowthe list 402 with a dot in the triangular indicator 805 to indicate thatthe second facet 804 has been added and is selected. In one embodiment,the indicator 805 defaults initially to a three sided polygon because afacet graphically has a minimum of three linear sides. Also, uponselecting the button marked “Add facet” 806, the list 402 is reset andis blank. A user can select and add verses to the list 402 correspondingto the second face 804 in similar fashion to that described above withrespect to the facet 804 associated with verses 302, 602, and 802. Asshown in FIG. 8B, facet 808 is associated with four verses and isrepresented by a four sided polygon. The user can select among facets(e.g., 804, 808) by selecting (e.g., pointing to) the associatedindicators 805.

As shown in FIG. 8B, a plurality of facets 804 can be grouped togetherto form a compilation hereinafter referred to as a “word diamond.”(Although the term “word diamond” is used herein to refer to thecompilation, the graphical representation of a “word diamond” need notbe shaped as a diamond.) For example, in FIG. 8B, there are twographical indicators, one triangular and one square, indicating thatthere are two facets, 804 and 808, associated with a total of sevenverses. Also, shown graphically are facets 804 and 808 displayed withthe diamond 806. Selecting the facet (e.g., 804 or 808) causes therespective facet to be highlighted on the diamond 106, such as, forexample, by becoming brighter than the other facet(s) of the worddiamond. Moreover, selecting the facet (e.g., 804 or 808) causes thedisplay of the associated verses in the facet list 402, and causes thetext of those verses to be displayed in the foreground on or around thediamond 106. Of course, in other embodiments, other numbers andcombinations of verses and facets may be used and are within the scopeof the invention; the specific numbers mentioned in the aboveembodiments are merely exemplary.

A verse (e.g., 302, 602, 802) in the list 402 can be removed by usingthe pointer to select a button or other control displayed. For example,indicators are shown in FIG. 8B as circles positioned to the left of therespective verses in the list 402. Removing the verse (e.g., 302, 602,802) from the facet list 402 will also remove the verse 302 showndisplayed with the diamond 106.

Furthermore, one or more facets (e.g., 804, 808) can be removed from theword diamond by selecting the facet, as described above, andsubsequently selecting a button marked “Remove facet” 807. Removing thefacet 804 will delete the list 402 associated with the facet 804 andwill also delete the associated graphical indicator 805.

In creating a word diamond or searching for a previously created worddiamond, a user can include further information in addition to the facetlist, which may facilitate indexing and searching for the word diamond.For example, in one embodiment, the user can input a user-selected titleof the word diamond, as well as keywords, phrases, or descriptive termsor tags that describe the contents of the facets or the theme of theword diamond. Such included text can be stored and indexed with the worddiamond for searching and retrieval by the author or another user. Forexample, an author can create a word diamond whose theme is “family.” Inthat example, the user can include the word “family” as a tag orkeyword, which can be used as a search term for searching a collectionof word diamonds.

Portions of the collection can also be searched using a word search. Bysearching for terms or words, instead of searching for a verse bygraphically using the object or diamond 106, a user who is lessknowledgeable about the location of a verse of the Bible, as representedby the diamond 106, can more efficiently search by inputting a term orword known to be included in the verse.

For example, as shown in FIG. 9, a search term “brother” is input intothe search field 104 as a text item to be searched. The term can beinput using an input device, including a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, atouchscreen interface of the display device, and any combinationthereof, and the like. The search can be for fields including terms,themes, titles, and keywords of a collection of text, such as verses ofthe Bible. As shown in FIG. 9 search results are shown as dots 902 onthe surfaces of the diamond 106. The diamond 106 can be rotated aroundits horizontal and vertical axis to show dots 902 that may be obstructeddue to the orientation of the diamond 106 currently displayed. In FIG.9, each of the dots 902 represents a position on the diamond 106associated with a corresponding verse of the Bible in which the termappears. Information about a specific verse can be displayed by moving apointer, such as a mouse pointer, over the dot of interest, which causesthe corresponding information to be displayed in a text box 904, similarto the text box 202 described above with respect to FIG. 2. Moreover, asdiscussed above with respect to the text box 202 and FIGS. 2 and 3, textof the verse 1002 associated with the information displayed in the textbox 904 can, in like manner, be displayed by selecting the text box 904,as shown in FIG. 10. Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the verse 1002 can beadded to the list 402 by selecting the “Add Scripture” button 404, asdescribed above.

In FIG. 12, text of a second verse 1202 (e.g., Acts 9:17) and text of athird verse 1204 (e.g., Acts 12:2) are displayed, by selecting theirrespective dots 902 from the search results, and are added to the list402 along with the first verse. As discussed earlier with respect to thefacet 804 shown in FIG. 8, the relationship between the three verses1002, 1202, and 1204 is shown by a triangular facet 1206, which isformed by connecting the locations on the diamond 106 associated withthe respective verses. Facets and word diamonds can be created in amanner similar to that described above.

It should be noted that searching a collection using a word search and agraphical search of an object 106 associated with that collection can beused together, such as to construct the facets of a word diamond. Forexample, a user can begin to create a facet by first entering the searchterm “brother” in the search field 104, as shown in FIG. 9, and thenselecting a verse from the search results and storing the verse in thelist 402. Thereafter, a user can clear the search results from searchingfor the term “brother” and subsequently graphically search the diamond106. A verse found from the graphical search may be saved in the list402. Alternatively, successively different verses can be added to thelist 402 as a result of successive text searches being entered andcleared. Such use of successive search terms may be useful when textthat is displayed in verses are, in turn used as entered search termsfor successive searches.

Moreover, in an embodiment shown in FIG. 13, at least one word 1302within a displayed verse 1304 can be highlighted or otherwise selectedusing at least one of the aforementioned input devices to displayfurther information related to the word 1302. For example, as shown inFIG. 13, the verse Acts 9:31 is displayed with the word “enjoyed”highlighted. A text box 1306 that includes a definition of the word“enjoyed” 1302, as well as the Greek spelling of that word and aphonetic pronunciation of that Greek spelling, is displayed for thehighlighted (i.e., selected) word. Of course, in addition to a furtherdisplay of a definition or a translation, in other embodiments,highlighting sub-portions (i.e. word 1302) of the displayed portion(i.e., verse 1304) can be used to generate an aural recitation of thesub-portion to the user, such as to provide a phonetic pronunciation,which can be transmitted to an audio device, such as a speaker.Moreover, in another embodiment, certain words of the verse can beselected to be used a search term for generating new search results.

Created word diamonds can be configured to be used as inputs to otherapplications. For example in one embodiment, data associated with thecreated word diamond can be stored for later retrieval of the worddiamond in a same or in another computer program. Word diamond data canbe used for example in a printing program to print or otherwisereproduce the word diamond on another media, such as paper, textile, orceramic. In one case the word diamond data can be printed on a poster,an article of clothing, such as a shirt, or on a cup or mug.

In an embodiment, a user can create an account at the website in orderto view and share word diamonds with other members of the websitecommunity. Moreover, the website may be configured to allow users of thewebsite to import word diamond data and to upload that data to a storagelocation on a server.

Moreover, word diamonds created by users can be made visible or publicto allow other users to view the facets and verses and to copy diamondscreated by others. Such copied word diamonds can then be saved to apersonal storage area on the website for later viewing and/or editing.Users of the website can select whether to make their word diamondspublicly viewable or make them privately viewable only by the authorand/or selected parties. Users can also select and save as “favorites”word diamonds created by others as well as their own word diamonds forease of later retrieval and viewing. The favorites may be saved asdynamic links to saved and indexed word diamonds.

The website may be configured to allow authenticated members to postpublicly viewable comments and ratings for posted (i.e., publiclyviewable) word diamonds. For example, members can rate the diamond on anumerical scale and can leave comments about the word diamond that canbe viewed by other users viewing the word diamond.

Moreover, the website may be configured to track statistics on thenumber of times a word diamond is viewed, the age of the word diamond,the number of times a word diamond is copied and/or commented on, andthe percentage of reviews at various numerical values on the numericalrating scale. The word diamonds can also be ranked based on thestatistics compiled, such as ranking by user rating and by the number ofviews. Further, statistics may also be compiled about the author of theword diamond, such as the number of word diamonds created by the user.When viewing a word diamond, the viewer can also select, such as with apointer, the author's name to view other word diamonds created by theauthor.

The website may also be configured to present a randomly generatedselection of publicly available word diamonds. A user can then view oneor more of the presented word diamonds as described above.

In another embodiment, co-occurrence information is maintained (e.g., ina co-occurrence matrix) to track which portions of the collectionco-occur in facets and/or diamonds created by the users. Over time, theco-occurrence information can be used to identify which verses mostfrequently co-occur in facets/diamonds, and particularly co-occurrencesthat exceed an expected or average co-occurrence rate. Statisticalanalysis (e.g., information gain) can be used to identify naturallyoccurring facets that are hidden within the overall patterns of usage.For example, if verses A and B co-occur in facets significantly morefrequently than expected, and verses B and C likewise co-occur in facetsmore frequently than expected, the system can identify a hidden facet ordiamond in the grouping of verses A, B, and C, even if no user hascreated such a facet or diamond in fact. The identification of suchhidden facets and diamonds may be used to reveal deep or fundamentalrelationships within the collection that may otherwise escape notice byusers. In addition, vector models can be used to represent terms,verses, facets, and diamonds (using vector superposition) in the textcollection. In this fashion, given a first facet or diamond, one or moresimilar facets or diamonds can be automatically identified using vectorcomparison operations (e.g., dot product).

The website may also be configured to permit a user to order, forpurchase or for free, customized items, such as clothing and stationerythat include the word diamond or variations of the word diamond. Asecure checkout system for electronic commerce can be employed toprocess user orders and payment information.

FIG. 14 schematically shows a system diagram of an exemplary informationorganizing system 1400, according to embodiments of the presentinvention. The system 1400 includes one or more user computers 1402 forenabling users to input and receive/view information, and an informationcoordinator 1406, all of which are connected to a communication network1408. The information coordinator 1406 may be formed of a plurality ofservers or a single server equipped with one or more processors (notshown) for processing communications to and from each of the usercomputers 1402 via the communication network 1408. The informationcoordinator 1406 includes a storage device 1410 storing a controlprogram that is executable by the one or more processors.

The communication network 1408 may be the Internet, a dedicated orprivate communication network, a satellite communication network, or acombination thereof, or any other means of communication between theuser computers 1402 and the information coordinator 1406.

Each of the user computers 1402 may include a personal computer, aworkstation, or any other communication device that is able to transmitinformation to and receive information from the information coordinator1406 via the communication network 1408.

The control program, when executed by the information coordinator 1406,provides a platform for implementing an interactive organization method.The control program contains computer-executable code for providing auser interface (e.g., a website) at which the user can create a worddiamond based on a collection of information. The collection ofinformation is preferably stored on the storage device 1410 along with adatabase which organizes indexes portions of the collection with atleast one of a positional identifier associated with the object 106,such as, for example, a position on the surface of an object 106.

The control program may be written using a conventional computerprogramming language that is able to render a user interface for awebsite. Modules or routines of the computer program can be used toprovide the functionality for performing each of the steps describedabove.

As schematically shown in FIG. 14, the user computers 1402 transmit themessages to the information coordinator 1406.

The systems and methods of the present invention (or any part(s) orfunction(s) thereof) may be implemented using hardware, software, or acombination thereof and may be implemented in one or more computersystems or other processing systems. Although some of the features ofaspects of the present invention are described in terms that may beassociated with mental operations performed by a human operator, no suchcapability of a human operator is necessary or is even desirable.Rather, such features are machine operations performed by machines suchas computer processors or similar devices.

More specifically, embodiments of the present invention may beimplemented by one or more computer systems configured or programmed tocarry out the functionality described herein. An example of such acomputer system 1500 is shown in FIG. 15. As will be appreciated bypersons skilled in the art of computer operations, the computer system1500 may utilize programming modules (not shown) for implementingvarious features and functions described herein.

The computer system 1500 may includes one or more processors, such asprocessor 1504. The processor 1504 is connected to a communicationinfrastructure 1506 (e.g., a communications bus, cross-over bar, ornetwork). Various software embodiments are described in terms of thiscomputer system 1500. However, after reading the descriptions providedherein, it will become apparent to a person skilled in the relevant arthow to implement embodiments of the present invention using othercomputer systems and/or architectures.

The computer system 1500 may include a display interface 1502 thatforwards graphics, text, and other data from the communicationinfrastructure 1506 (or from a frame buffer not shown) for display on adisplay unit 1530.

The computer system 1500 also may include a main memory 1508, preferablyrandom access memory (RAM), and further may include a secondary memory1510. The secondary memory 1510 may include, for example, a hard diskdrive 1512 and/or a removable storage drive 1514, representing a floppydisk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, a flash memorydrive, etc. The removable storage drive 1514 reads from and/or writes toa removable storage unit 1518 in a well known manner. As will beappreciated, the removable storage unit 1518 includes acomputer-readable storage medium storing computer software (i.e.,program code) and/or data.

In alternative embodiments, the secondary memory 1510 may include othersimilar devices for allowing computer programs or other instructions tobe loaded into the computer system 1500. Such devices may include, forexample, a removable storage unit 1522 and an interface 1520. Examplesof such may include a program cartridge and a cartridge interface (suchas that found in video game devices), a removable memory chip (such asan erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM) or a programmable readonly memory (PROM)), and an associated socket, as well as otherremovable storage units 1522 and other interfaces 1520 that allowsoftware and data to be transferred from the removable storage unit 1522to the computer system 1500.

The computer system 1500 also may include a communications interface1524, which allows software and data to be transferred between thecomputer system 1500 and external devices. The communications interface1524 may be, for example, a modem, a network interface (such as anEthernet card), a communications port, a Personal Computer Memory CardInternational Association (PCMCIA) slot and card, and the like. Softwareand data transferred via communications interface 1524 are in the formof signals 1528 which may be electronic, electromagnetic, optical, orother types of signals capable of being received by communicationsinterface 1524. These signals 1528 are provided to the communicationsinterface 1524 via a communications path (e.g., a channel) 1526. Thepath or channel 1526 carries the signals 1528 and may be implementedusing an one or a combination of: wire and/or cable; fiber optics; atelephone line; a cellular link; a radio frequency (RF) link; and othertypes of communications channels or paths.

The term “computer-readable medium” and similar such terms as usedherein are intended to refer generally to a tangible storage medium,such as the removable storage drive 1514, a hard disk installed in harddisk drive 1512, a flash-type memory unit, and the like.

The computer programs (also referred to herein as computer control logicand computer code) may be stored in the main memory 1508 and/or thesecondary memory 1510. The computer programs also may be received viathe communications interface 1524. Such computer programs, whenexecuted, enable the computer system 1500 to perform the features andfunctions of various embodiments of the present invention, as discussedherein. In particular, the computer programs, when executed, enable theprocessor 1504 to perform or implement the features and functions ofvarious embodiments of the present invention. Accordingly, such computerprograms may be considered to represent controllers of the computersystem 1500.

In an embodiment where the present invention is implemented usingsoftware, the software may be stored in a computer program product(e.g., a computer-readable storage medium) and loaded into the computersystem 1500 using removable storage drive 1514, the hard drive 1512, orthe communications interface 1524. The control logic (software), whenexecuted by the processor 1504, causes the processor 1504 to implementvarious functions described herein.

In another embodiment, the present invention may be implementedprimarily in hardware using, for example, hardware components such asapplication specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Implementation of sucha hardware-based machine so as to implement various ones of thefunctions described herein will be apparent to persons skilled in therelevant arts and, as such, is not described in detail herein.

In yet another embodiment, the present invention may be implementedusing a combination of both hardware and software.

While various embodiments of the present invention have been describedabove, it should be understood that they have been presented by way ofexample, and not limitation. It will be apparent to persons skilled inthe relevant art(s) that various changes in form and detail can be madeto the described embodiments without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention. Thus, the present invention should not belimited by any of the above described exemplary embodiments, but shouldbe defined only in accordance with the following claims and theirequivalents.

In addition, it should be understood that the figures illustrated in theattached drawings, which show operations and functions of embodiments ofthe present invention, are presented schematically for example purposesonly. The architectures of embodiments of the present invention aresufficiently flexible and configurable such that they may be utilized(and navigated) in ways other than those shown in the figures.

Further, the purpose of the Abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent andTrademark Office and the public generally, and especially thescientists, engineers, and practitioners in the art who are not familiarwith patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from acursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure ofthe specification. The Abstract is not intended to be limiting as to thescope of the present invention in any way.

Additionally, it is to be understood that the steps and processesrecited in the claims need not be performed in the order presented.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A computer-implemented method for graphicallypresenting a collection of data, the method being performed by aprogrammed central processing unit, the method comprising steps of:causing a user device to display a rendered 3D object, the objectrepresenting a collection of text data stored in a memory accessible bythe central processing unit, wherein the collection includes a pluralityof indexed content portions, with each portion being associated with arespective position on a surface of the object; receiving a userselection of a plurality of portions of the indexed content portions,the user selection being inputted by a user via the user device;determining, for each portion of the selection, a corresponding positionon the surface of the object associated with that portion of theselection; causing the user device to display the portions of theselection at corresponding positions on the surface of the objectassociated with the portions of the selection; and causing the userdevice to display lines connecting each portion of the selection withtwo other portions of the selection.
 22. The method according to claim21, wherein the collection of text data corresponds to one of: acollection of music-related text data, a collection of film-related textdata, a collection of speech-related text data, a collection ofencyclopedia-related text data, a collection of periodical-related textdata, a collection of Bible-related data, and a collection ofbook-related data.
 23. The method according to claim 21, wherein theportions of the selection and the lines connecting each portion of theselection form a facet, and wherein the method further comprises stepsof: receiving a plurality of user selections that form a plurality offacets; grouping the plurality of facets to form a polygon; and indexingthe polygon with a title of the polygon.
 24. The method according toclaim 21, wherein the user selection inputted by the user is based on asearch request inputted by the user, the search request including asearch term, and wherein the method further comprises a step ofaccessing the memory and searching the indexed content portions of thecollection stored in the memory for one or more portions correspondingto the search term.
 25. A non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium storing computer code that, when executed by a central processingunit of a computer, causes the central processing unit to perform amethod for graphically presenting a collection of data, the methodcomprising steps of: causing a user device to display a rendered 3Dobject, the object representing a collection of text data stored in amemory accessible by the central processing unit, wherein the collectionincludes a plurality of indexed content portions, with each portionbeing associated with a respective position on a surface of the object;receiving a user selection of a plurality of portions of the indexedcontent portions, the user selection being inputted by a user via theuser device; determining, for each portion of the selection, acorresponding position on the surface of the object associated with thatportion of the selection; causing the user device to display theportions of the selection at corresponding positions on the surface ofthe object associated with the portions of the selection; and causingthe user device to display lines connecting each portion of theselection with two other portions of the selection.
 26. The storagemedium according to claim 25, wherein the collection of text datacorresponds to one of: a collection of music-related text data, acollection of film-related text data, a collection of speech-relatedtext data, a collection of encyclopedia-related text data, a collectionof periodical-related text data, a collection of Bible-related data, anda collection of book-related data.
 27. The storage medium according toclaim 25, wherein the portions of the selection and the lines connectingeach portion of the selection form a facet, and wherein the methodfurther comprises steps of: receiving a plurality of user selectionsthat form a plurality of facets; grouping the plurality of facets toform a polygon; and indexing the polygon with a title of the polygon.28. The storage medium according to claim 25, wherein the user selectioninputted by the user is based on a search request inputted by the user,the search request including a search term, and wherein the methodfurther comprises a step of accessing the memory and searching theindexed content portions of the collection stored in the memory for oneor more portions corresponding to the search term.
 29. An electronicsystem for facilitating graphical presentation of a collection of data,the system comprising: a central processing unit configured to executeone or more program modules; and an interface configured to transmitdata from the central processing unit to a communication network, toreceive data from the communication network, and to provide receiveddata to the central processing unit, wherein the program modulesinclude: a user interface module for providing a user interface to auser device, the user interface being configured to display a rendered3D object representing a collection of text data stored in a memoryaccessible by the central processing unit, wherein the collectionincludes a plurality of indexed content portions, with each portionbeing associated with a respective position on a surface of the object,a reception module for receiving a user selection of a plurality ofportions of the indexed content portions, the user selection beinginputted by a user using the user device, and the user selection beingreceived via the communication network, a position determination modulefor determining, for each portion of the selection, a correspondingposition on the surface of the object associated with that portion ofthe selection, a position displaying module for displaying, on the userinterface, each portion of the selection at the corresponding positionon the surface of the object associated with that portion of theselection, and a line displaying module for displaying, on the userinterface, lines connecting each portion of the selection with two otherportions of the selection.
 30. The system according to claim 29, whereinthe collection of text data corresponds to one of: a collection ofmusic-related text data, a collection of film-related text data, acollection of speech-related text data, a collection ofencyclopedia-related text data, a collection of periodical-related textdata, a collection of Bible-related data, and a collection ofbook-related data.
 31. The system according to claim 29, wherein theportions of the selection and the lines connecting each portion of theselection form a facet, wherein the reception module is configured toreceive a plurality of user selections used to form a plurality offacets, and wherein the program modules further include: a polygonmodule for grouping the plurality of facets to form a polygon, and anindexing module for indexing the polygon with a title of the polygon.32. The system according to claim 29, wherein the user selectioninputted by the user is based on a search request inputted by the user,the search request including a search term, and wherein the programmodules further include a search module for accessing the memory andsearching the indexed content portions of the collection stored in thememory for one or more portions corresponding to the search term.